To Kill A Mockingbird Innocence Theme

In To Kill a Mockingbird, Innocence is a topic that is discussed and displayed throughout the story and is very important to having a complete understanding of the book. People’s view on innocence is something that is very subjective and it varies between every person. Through point of view, symbolism, and conflict, Harper lee shows that people’s perception of innocence changes as they grow up.

First off, the book being narrated by Scout’s point of view shows how her view of innocence matures and changes as the she grows up. In the beginning of the story, Scout and Jem don’t really see injustices and thinks the world is fair and always a happy place. They have the normal false perception of childhood innocence that shape their

These symbols make you look deeper into the text and give you an overall clearer understanding of the text. The most obvious symbolism is the title, To Kill a Mockingbird. He says it’s a literal sin to kill a mockingbird when Scout and Jem get air rifles. He says “shoot all the bluejays you want, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird”(119). This is clearly a symbol if it’s the title of the book. It means you shouldn’t kill a mockingbird because they don’t do anything wrong and are just innocent creatures. This is obviously symbolized by the trial of Tom Robinson. He is clearly an innocent person, but still ends of dying because of the verdict of the trial. Miss Maudie says “They don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us”(119) which is what Tom Robinson did for Miss Ewell. All he did was help her, but when she “sinned” and tried to seduce Tom she couldn’t think of what to do so she just blamed the innocent man. The next major symbol of the book is the character of Boo Radley. Boo Radley is never proved to be a bad person to the children, but they still have a negative perspective on him. Scout and jem later on see that he is a decent person when Boo fixes Jem’s pants. Jem says “somebody knew you were comin’ back for ‘em”(78). This confuses them, but they start to see as a more real person instead of a made up

There are several small conflicts in To Kill a Mockingbird that demonstrate innocence such as when the teacher offered money to Walter for lunch or when Dolphus Raymond talks to Scout and Dill about how he is treated poorly for his choices that he makes. Although these conflicts show the innocence in people, they are not major conflicts that deeply affect the main characters. The most major conflict in the story is obviously the trial of Tom Robinson. This trial reveals to Scout and Jem that their view of innocence isn’t the same as everyone else’s. The verdict of the trial deeply devastated them because they couldn’t comprehend the idea of him going to prison for something he didn’t do. Months before the trial they, wouldn’t have cared if he was innocent or guilty just because they didn’t like the negative attention the trial brought. They started to care after they started to mature and realize just how unfair and inhumane the trial was. Conflict is something that obviously helped shape the changing views of innocence throughout the